Chapter 33
When I tilted my head in confusion, Rahel, as if she had made a slip of the tongue, looked flustered and quickly shut her mouth.
“That’s only for boys and girls, isn’t it?”
“…….”
“We’re both girls, so we can’t do it?”
“……Anyway, no.”
Rahel hurriedly got up from her seat as if she was afraid I might grab her.
I trailed after her as she tried to leave the room, whining.
“Rahel, are we really not going to sleep together? For several days in a row? Really?”
If Mr. Dias Hessen, the overprotective father, came back, staying out overnight would be impossible!
This might be our first and last night together(?)!
“I don’t want the night to end like this.”
But…
Rahel looked at me briefly after opening the door.
“Good night.”
And with that, she really left the room.
I pouted, staring at the door she had closed so coldly.
“Then why did you even say we could stay at the villa?”
Sure, I could have bathed separately since it’s embarrassing, but staying at a friend’s house is about having fun together—having a pajama party, staying up talking under the blanket, enjoying each other’s company late into the night!
But our noble young lady clearly couldn’t allow even late-night chatter, no matter how close the friendship.
“Tch, Rahel’s such an idiot.”
Muttering words she couldn’t hear, I lay down on the bed.
‘Still, the bed is soft and nice.’
A wide bed, a blanket and pillow smelling of warm sunlight.
Though the surroundings were unfamiliar, I felt like I could fall asleep instantly just by closing my eyes.
ʥʟʏʋʊɸ ɟɡɕɲʀ……
…Until I once again sensed the forest’s presence.
I jumped up from the bed and approached the window.
Far beyond the window was a forest, completely dark as night had fallen.
I stared silently at the pitch-black forest and cautiously spoke.
“Who are you? Why do you keep calling me?”
Anyone watching might think I’d gone crazy.
But this was no longer a figment of imagination or a hallucination.
‘It’s calling me…’
Still, no response came, even after a while.
When I ignored it, it called persistently, but now that I answered, there was nothing.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar fear pricked me like an awl in my pocket.
‘Could it be… I’m going crazy?’
The original story, or whatever else—this wasn’t me imagining things, was it?
Thinking this made me want to cry.
If not…
‘A ghost? Or a demon…? Only I can hear it…!’
Suddenly, all the horror movies I had seen in a past life came to mind, and the large, empty room felt cold.
My heart raced, and goosebumps rose.
The darkness in the room seemed to press down on me, making it hard to breathe.
The first face that came to mind in this sudden fear was…
“Da…dad…”
But Dad wasn’t here.
Shaken by fear that seemed to choke me, I grabbed a pillow and ran from the room.
Eventually, I found myself at Rahel’s room.
She might have already been asleep, but in my panic, I didn’t have the luxury to think that far.
Knock, knock.
“Rahel, are you… awake?”
Just as I thought I might wake her from her sleep, the door opened, and Rahel appeared.
Fortunately, she wasn’t asleep.
“What’s wrong?”
The face, which in the original story was described with a frightening and eerie atmosphere, to me, was simply my precious, trusted friend.
At that moment, I realized anew how much I relied on her.
“Rahel, I’m scared to sleep alone… Can’t we sleep together?”
Perhaps from the tension of fear, my voice trembled without my noticing.
Rahel stared at me silently for a moment, then took my hand.
“Come in.”
Only when I felt her warm hand did I realize my hands were shaking.
Even though she could have been annoyed or teased me, she didn’t ask anything.
She simply offered a place on the bed.
While I climbed onto the bed and lay down, Rahel turned on the lamp next to the bedside table.
I looked at her curiously.
“Is it okay to leave the light on?”
“I was planning to read before sleeping.”
Rahel, sitting next to me, picked up the book from the table and opened it.
That’s when I realized.
‘She turned on the light so I wouldn’t be scared.’
At that moment, I felt as if my heart was filled with cotton candy.
The fear that had pressed down on me moments ago suddenly seemed insignificant.
Things I hadn’t dared tell anyone else, thinking Dad would worry, now seemed okay to share with her.
“You know, Rahel.”
Rahel looked up from her book at me.
“I keep feeling like something is calling me.”
“……Something is calling you?”
“Yeah. But it only calls me, so it’s scary. I haven’t gone crazy, right…?”
“You’re definitely a little weird, but…”
Though her words admitted my strangeness, they carried no teasing, only a calm kindness typical of her.
“That’s not because you’re strange. If anything, it’s because you’re special.”
“Special?”
“Exorcists can hear the voices of spirits, right? And some spirit tamers can hear the voices of spirits too.”
“Ah! That’s right, there were people like that.”
In the original story, Vivian was never said to have the talents of an exorcist or spirit tamer.
But hearing Rahel speak, I began to think maybe I wasn’t crazy at all, and that I really was special.
And suddenly, the situation didn’t feel entirely frightening.
“But I hope I don’t hear it when I sleep.”
“You can hear it now?”
“No. But… if it gets quiet, I think I’ll hear it again. Can you keep talking until I fall asleep?”
Rahel closed her book but remained silent for a while, as if searching for a topic.
But she didn’t find one suitable.
“……I don’t know what to say.”
True, constantly talking is hard.
‘Rahel isn’t really the talkative type anyway.’
Just as I began feeling guilty for making such a request, a soft humming began. Rahel was singing.
I opened my eyes wide.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a lullaby my mother used to sing, but I don’t remember the lyrics.”
“I’ve never heard it before.”
“……Not good?”
“No! It’s nice. Your singing voice is beautiful too.”
Rahel slightly frowned.
“You really say everything’s pretty, don’t you?”
“I say it because it is pretty.”
“But we can’t see your voice. Doesn’t ‘pretty’ seem weird to say?”
“Hm… you can’t see it, but you can feel it. Your voice is like the sound of leaves dancing in the wind through a summer forest. Pretty.”
Rahel’s voice seemed cold and distant like the wind, but like leaves swaying in it, it was gentle and kind.
She glanced at my chattering, then let out a small chuckle, as if conceding.
Her expression showed she liked my compliment about her voice.
Hearing her laugh, my eyes slowly closed, the tension melting away.
Just before surrendering to sleep, I whispered, shaking off the drowsiness.
“…Thank you, Rahel.”
I wanted her to know.
A peaceful silence followed, and as my consciousness faded, I heard Rahel’s voice again.
She sang the lullaby she didn’t even know the lyrics to, continuing until I fell asleep.
“Good night.”
In the pale darkness, touched by the lamp’s glow, her gentle whisper was the last thing I remembered before slipping into a deep sleep.
